The MobileStore scouts for a creative partner

Currently, McCann Erickson is the brand's creative agency on record.

Essar Group's telecom retailing venture, The MobileStore, is looking for a creative agency. Sources inform afaqs! that a multi-agency pitch is underway.

The creative agency currently on board is McCann Erickson, which has been The MobileStore's creative partner since its inception in March 2007.

Enhance India, the retail branding solutions unit of the Starcom MediaVest Group (SMV), handles the retail branding duties for the brand. SMV also takes care of the brand's media buying and planning duties.

The brand has been somewhat inactive on the communication front for the past year-and-a-half. Sources attribute this to various reasons ranging from the economic slowdown to top-level management changes. This creative pitch call, it seems, is an effort to revive the brand on the advertising circuit.

It is also learnt that the focus now is on retail level branding and designing, rather than strengthening the brand and what it stands for. Pulling in more customers through scheme based communication about attractive product offers and discounts will be given priority. Thus, instead of a large-scale networked agency, the brand is looking for a creative boutique.

Soon after its launch, however, The MobileStore was active on the advertising front, with the campaigns riding primarily on print, BTL (below-the-line) and television. Sources say that the ad spends back then were in the range of Rs 8-10 crore

For the record, all branded handsets, accessories, connections and repair-related services are available at The MobileStore outlets. These outlets are present in three formats, namely, large (1,000-1,500 sq feet), medium (800-1,000 sq. feet), and small (150-200 sq feet). Amongst the handset brands available at the store are Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung, Motorola, Fly, Sagem, HP, iMate, Dopod, HTC and BlackBerry. The store chain also has tie-ups with leading operators such as Airtel, Vodafone, BPL, Idea, MTNL, BSNL, Reliance and Tata Indicom.